Google’s Schmidt on Jobs: ‘Most Successful CEO’

Google and Apple have become bitter rivals in recent years, but throughout this period Google Chairman Eric Schmidt repeatedly stated that he believed Apple’s Steve Jobs was the country’s best CEO. On Thursday, after Jobs resigned as Apple CEO, the praise continued.

European Pressphoto Agency

Eric Schmidt gives a speech at the Regional Entrepreneurship Summit in Bali, Indonesia in July

Schmidt, who sat on Apple’s board between 2006 and 2009, said in a statement that Jobs “is the most successful CEO in the U.S. of the last 25 years.” He added that Jobs “uniquely combined an artist’s touch and an engineer’s vision to build an extraordinary company, one of the greatest American leaders in history.”

Schmidt stepped down from Apple’s board after the two companies began competing directly on several fronts, including in mobile-device and laptop software.

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